Orphans
by DancingCrimson
Summary: Earth AU. Jerza. Expanded from it's original oneshot!
1. Chapter 1

EARTH AU

The boy sat at the mouth of the alleyway, shivering. The small overhang he crouched under did not help much against the pouring rain and the lashing wind. He pulled the small raincoat around him tighter. He wondered where he would find refuge for the night. If the police saw him, they would definitely bother him; he had to avoid them. They scared him.  
He wondered what day it was. He knew it was at the end of November somewhere. Next would be December, and then a new year, and he would be seven next year some time. He did not know his birthday, and hence just changed his age with the year; in a sense, he had made his birthday January 1st.

He shivered again, and his stomach growled. He winced as the wind blew the rain in a different direction; right into his face.

He flinched and closed his eyes, turning away from the onslaught. The cold seeped into his limbs, slowly turning them numb.

Suddenly the rain stopped.

No, it did not stop, it was still raining.

So why was it not beating against him, soaking him?

He glanced up to see a small girl his own age standing there, head slightly tilted. She was carrying an umbrella that seemed too large for her; it looked like the large umbrella adults used. The umbrella held the rain away; the rain barely touched him. She had rather short scarlet hair; the only bright thing among the gray of rain.

"you're getting wet" she told him.

He blinked, unsure of how to respond.

"Where's your mommy?" she asked, and the question made him feel sour.

"I don't have one" he muttered, looking away again. He felt bitter, bracing himself for the sympathy.

He was stunned when she smiled brilliantly instead, and the rain seemed to lesson.

"really?" she said sweetly. "I don't have one either" She held out her hand to him, head slightly tilted. "come with me, then. I know where you can go"

He stared into her soft brown eyes and drowned in their depths. Her warmth- her light- seemed to reach out to him, from the shadows.

He obligingly took her hand, and then the scarlet haired girl pulled him out of the shadows and into her light.

HI MINNA~  
first published work! No reason I picked this one to go first-

jks I lied ^.^ I wanna know if you think I should continue this? As in, make it a series of scenes throughout Jellal and Erza- as orphans- lives. let me know in reviews! 


	2. Chapter 1 and a half

More like a Chapter 1- part two.

* * *

The little girl- who he learned was Erza- took him to a rather odd place. An old man named Rob fussed over him, instantly ushering the confused child into the bathroom.

"Shower, young one" Rob had peered over his glasses. "I'll have some clothes left out for you."

The shower was heaven. It did take a few tries to figure out and set to a normal temperature. He stood there, eyes closed, letting the liquid heat flow down through his tousled locks to his dirty feet. He couldn't remember the last time he'd taken a shower; his memory wasn't the best. But he didn't think anything had felt as good as the hot water on his shivering, dirty body.  
He stood there until the water ran clean, before reluctantly turning the water off and stepping out. On the counter lay a towel and a stack of neatly folded clothes. He was surprised. Clean, dry clothes. Underwear, pants, a shirt, and even an oversized (and rather ratty-looking) jacket.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he was even more surprised to meet a several curious faces. He froze, wary. They all looked about his age, he doubted they would hurt him. They didn't look very intimidating.

At that point, Erza walked into the room, carefully holding a small tray. She blinked when she saw all the people in the room. Then she frowned.

"I told you guys to leave him alone, he just got here" She scolded, although she was more preoccupied with keeping the tray straight than chiding the other children.

"Sorry, nee-chan" a boy with blond hair and dark skin said sheepishly. "We wanted to meet the new boy"

"what's your name?" asked a boy with... oddly _square_ features.

"Jellal" he said slowly, still a little tentative. But they seemed nice enough, and weren't threatening. and Erza wouldn't let them be here if they were't trustworthy.

"Jellal what?" Asked a girl with oddly catlike eyes, a shrill squeal of a voice coming from her curved lips.

"Jellal Fernandes" Jellal said, still a little taken back by the cat-like girl.

"I'm Millianna!" She said brightly, beaming at him.

"I'm Wally" Said the square-face boy.

"I'm Sho!" said the boy with dark skin and blonde hair.

"I'm Simon" said a dark, broody boy sitting in the back. He had dark skin and messy black hair.

"Rob ojii-san got us milk and cookies" Erza said, having successfully made her way from the door to the table without any spills.

"Yay!" Millianna squealed, instantly diving towards it.

Jellal edged closer, his stomach rumbling as he caught the scent of cookies.

"come here, Jellal" Erza shyly beckoned him over, and he went to her without hesitation. She placed a still-warm chocolate chip cookie in his hand, and looked at him expectantly. He obligingly lifted the cookie to his mouth and took a careful bite.

Had he been a pickier person, Jellal would have said the cookie was a bit stale, and crumbled too easily. But to a hungry boy fresh off the streets, it was bliss. It was warm and came apart on his tongue, thick and sweet in his mouth. As he swallowed, he could almost _feel_ the warmth easing up his cramping belly.

He looked at Erza and smiled a bit. She returned the smile, and handed him a small metal cup of hot milk.

"Children" Came a raspy voice, and everyone turned to see Rob hobbling into the room on his crutch. He smiled warmly at Jellal. "how are you, my boy?"

Jellal blinked. Manners came back to him in a rush, and he mentally scolded himself for not saying thanks earlier. "Much better. Thank you very much. But where is this?"

Rob made his way over to the faded sofa, settling down next to Simon. "I am Rob, and this is my home. And now, yours."

Jellal frowned, and Rob smiled gently as he began to explain.

"I found Erza on the streets when she was but four years old. she was sitting alone on the steps of the supermarket. I asked her where her mommy was, and she told me she was waiting for her mommy. And had been waiting for several days. I wasn't a very well off man, but I couldn't leave her there. My heart broke for the lovely child, abandoned on the steps of a cheap supermarket. I brought her home, and she has been like a daughter to me since then. Simon and Sho had been living on the streets. I'd dropped my wallet, and they'd chased me down to return it to me. Honest little children, all but starving on the filthy streets. Before I knew it, they were home as well, and took well to Erza. Wally had been kidnapped by child slavers, but he'd escaped and run into me. Millianna was found in a crate in the river, with two kittens, one of which was dead. My little family had grown to include five children. And today, Erza brought you home."

Jellal was stunned. He didn't understand some of what Rob had said, being about seven years old; but after facing so much cruelty in his life, seeing such kindness in the old man in front of him was almost too astounding to deal with.

"So I-" Jellal's voice broke, and he flushed, embarrassed. Rob's smile only grew.

"If you'd be okay with us, we'd love to have you in our family" Rob said kindly.

Jellal couldn't speak. He stared at the five children standing around the old man, all looking at him, waiting.

His throat too choked up to speak, Jellal went and sat next to Rob on the couch and took another bite of his cookie, peeking up at the older man to see his expression.

Millianna, Wally, and Sho instantly burst into cheers. Rob repeated his signature warm smile. Simon didn't seem to care, and Erza smiled to herself as she gathered up the dishes.

That moment marked the beginning of a new start, a new life, a new world...

and although no one knew it at the time,

a new love.

* * *

HI

HOW WAS THIS CHAPTER

I wrote it all in one sitting, not sure why. Just did. I promise the story will progress a little better from the next chapter xD which will probably be a scene from their middle-school time period ^.^


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

"Jellal Fernandes!" Erza Scarlet yelled at the top of her lungs. "You give me back my hair tie right _now!_ "

The boy in question, now twelve years old, grinned at her, staying well out of reach. "I can't believe you have a pink hair tie, Erza. So girly."

"Jellal!" Erza said furiously, eyes narrowing. She folded her arms and glared at him, the effect ruined by her messy braid unravelling as she moved.

"Erza!" He mocked, stepping back to avoid her dangerous fists.

"Ugh!" Twelve year old Erza whirled around and stomped upstairs, storming past a bewildered Simon.

Simon stared after her, then turned to look at Jellal, one eyebrow raised.

Jellal held up the hair tie, and Simon sighed.

"You shouldn't tease Erza so much" Simon told him, going into the kitchen. "She's a nice girl."

"Sounds like _someone_ has a little crush on Erza" Jellal retorted, flopping down on the ancient sofa, but keeping his green-gold gaze trained on Simon.

Simon stiffened, but didn't reply. Ignoring Jellal, he went back to making himself a sandwich.

"Jellal Nii-san!" Sho came flying down the stairs. "Why is Erza Nee-chan mad?"

"the brat stole her hair tie again" Simon said.

"but nee-chan looks nice with her hair down" Sho blinked.

"Jellal doesn't care about that. He just likes to annoy her" Simon grumbled.

Jellal looked at him coolly. "you sure about that, Simon?"

Simon frowned, looking up at Jellal. Who looked back challengingly.

At that point Erza came down the stairs. She'd forsaken her braid and just put her hair in a ponytail. "Millianna wants to go get ice cream. Rob Ojii-san said we can go."

"I just finished making my sandwich" groaned Simon. "but I'm still coming!"

"let's go!" Sho cheered. Millianna came flying down the stairs, her cat-hat on.

"Jellal, you coming?" Erza looked over at Jellal.

Jellal beckoned her over. Looking slightly confused, Erza made her way over. Jellal glanced up at her and then gently took her hand, and slipped her hair tie onto her wrist.

Erza smiled slightly, then grabbed his hand and tugged him off the sofa. "let's go!"

Jellal struggled to keep a calm face, but on the inside he was panicking. Erza was holding his hand. Her hand was... soft, but calloused. What if she thought his hands were too rough? What if his hands were sweaty?

Jellal's thoughts were interrupted by Simon calling out to Erza. "Erza, can you come here for a second?"

Jellal glanced at Simon, and found the other boy glaring at him.

Jellal narrowed his eyes back at him. He knew Simon had a crush on Erza. Every time they shared a look, a smile, a touch, Jellal felt ugly emotions boiling up in him. Quite frankly, all the feelings confused him, so he stuck to stealing Erza's hair ties.

 _Of course_ he didn't only steal her hair ties to get her attention. He would _never_ do that. He didn't care about her hair either. He absolutely did _not_ love what she looked like when her fiery, silky soft hair fell over her shoulders, and swayed when she walked, and fluttered in the breeze.

Definitely not.

"Nii-San!" Sho said impatiently. "we're going!"

Jellal blinked and grinned at Sho in apology. "coming!"

The entire group chatted about mindless things as they walked over to the ice cream parlor just a few blocks away. It was a hot day, and Jellal couldn't wait to get ice cream.

When they stepped into the cool, AC'd parlor, the three younger ones rushed towards the display, while the older three went over to a table in the corner.

"I can go get everyone's orders" Simon suggested, his eyes on Erza. "what do you want, Erza?"

"she always gets strawberry cheesecake" Jellal told Simon. Erza smiled, surprised, and nodded. Simon narrowed his eyes at Jellal.

"yeah" Erza said. "I didn't know you actually paid attention, Jellal"

"I don't" Jellal said instantly, and looked away to hide his red cheeks. Erza's smile only grew.

"Jellal always gets vanilla, cuz he's boring" Erza told Simon, and Jellal just about got whiplash as he turned to stare at her in shock. She seemed awfully proud of herself, but shy, looking down at her lap, cheeks slightly reddening.

"how about me, Erza?" Millianna asked; she'd come up to the table a few moments before.

"you and Wally change your choice every time" Erza laughed at the younger girl. "Sho always gets butterscotch or peanut butter swirl, and Simon likes chocolate"

Simon beamed, and a pang hit Jellal's heart. The fact that she'd remembered his favorite flavor suddenly seemed so much less significant.

"whatever" he told himself, and instead turned his attention to wally and Sho. "did you pick your flavours?"

"I'm getting rainbow sherbet!" millianna said.

"I'm getting butterscotch" Sho said.

"I want rasberry blast" Wally said.

Simon went over to make the orders, and Sho went with him to help carry everything back.

"can we go to the park after this, Jellal nii-san?" Millianna asked, her eyes hopeful.

"sure" Jellal replied, and Millianna squealed with delight.

After the ice cream, they went to the park, where the younger ones started building a castle in the sandbox. Millianna begged Erza to help, and she finally agreed.

Jellal and Simon sat on the swings, idly moving back and forth.

"you like Erza" Simon broke the silence.

"No I don't." Jellal said automatically, and Simon looked at him accusingly. "okay... yeah"

"I like Erza more than you" Simon muttered.

"No way" Jellal frowned at the other boy. "I like Erza best."

Simon frowned back at him. "why do you like Erza?"

"Erza saved me" Jellal said instantly. "She brought me from the dark and cold. She-"

"yeah, okay I get it." Simon muttered.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the others play.

"we're still best friends, right Jellal?" Simon asked in a small voice.

Jellal looked at him. "You're my best friend in the whole entire world."

Simon smiled slightly. "girls are gross anyway"

"yeah" Jellal declared, and got off the swings. "Let's play knights."

Simon's smile grew. "okay."

* * *

HI GUYS

so I was gonna put some cute little kid Jerza in here but idk, it ended up focusing more on Simon and Jellal.

I know they're only twelve, I tried to make them seem immature.

Next chapter will also be based on this age time period, before advancing to HIGH SCHOOL 3 aka where the story goes from innocent fluff to steamy complications :3

I love reviews! Gimme reviews!


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